Cilantro was described as an aphrodisiac in “The Arabian Nights,” but that fact fails to impress those who hate it with a passion.

Julia Child famously told Larry King that it has a “dead taste,” and she would pick it out of a dish “and throw it on the floor.” The pro-cilantro crowd is just as vocal, if not as descriptive. You can find the debate anywhere you find cilantro and the people who meticulously pick it out of their food.

We explore the adoration and hatred of this herb, and some other divisive foods, in our latest edition of Love It, Hate It. To get started, we asked staff writers Joan Morris and Martha Ross to square off on cilantro.

Morris: I’m totally one with Julia. Throw that nasty stuff on the ground and stomp the life out of it. Scientists say it’s genetics that determine whether cilantro tastes yummy or tastes like death. They also say that the more you eat, the more your brain recognizes the flavor and says, hey, this isn’t so bad. Well, thanks to chefs putting it in absolutely everything — my pasta, my soup, my salad, my rice and, I strongly suspect, in my ice cream sundae — I’ve had plenty of opportunity to have my taste buds fall into line, and they just aren’t buying it. Enough. It’s time for chefs to replace the scourge of palates with another herb. I recommend chocolate. OK, technically not an herb, but at least it doesn’t taste like feet.

Ross: Cilantro’s flavor can be subtle, but it’s certainly not “dead.” And it’s absolutely essential to dishes I love, particularly those from Thailand, where I lived for three years. Not unlike Proust’s madeleines, cilantro takes me back to Bangkok, one of the world’s great food cities, where fare created for everything from street carts to riverside restaurants to four-star hotels was bought fresh that morning from local markets. Cilantro’s delicate, bright green leaves embody that fresh taste, and cooks sprinkled it liberally on almost everything they served. Real Thai food is so spicy, cilantro is not just a garnish but a necessary counterpoint — light, fresh, crisp, cooling off the heat and balancing out the sour and savory.

So how about you? We’re looking for your opinions of:

Cilantro

Okra

Beets

Kale

Brussels sprouts

Send your responses, along with your name, city and suggestions for other smackdowns to mross@bayareanewsgroup.com by, May 1. Please put “love/hate” in the subject line.

Your Turn
So, how about you? Do you have strong feelings about cilantro? How about these divisive veggies?

Okra

Beets

Kale

Brussels sprouts
Send your responses, along with your name, city and suggestions for other love/hate smackdowns to Martha Ross, mross@bayareanewsgroup.com by Thursday. Please put “love/hate” in the subject line.

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